Built in 1844, Manchester Victoria is a transport interchange station for train, tram and bus welcoming over six million passengers annually; various parts of the Victoria building are Grade II listed. In 2009, Victoria had the unfortunate distinction of being labelled “Britain’s worst station” (DfTs “Better Stations” report). Coupled with that, the station roof, which was a muddle of a design, was in very poor condition, a situation exacerbated by the IRA bomb in 1996 that caused significant damage in the centre of the city. The facilities met neither basic passenger expectations nor did they project the welcoming modern image expected by the many visitors arriving into Manchester in the twenty-first century.

Work to refurbish the station finally began in 2013. The refurbishment, which is scheduled to take until 2015, involves: